WATERING THE PARKS. 



45 



besides watering the side paths once^ wliicTi the carts of 

 course did not touch. The cost is given as follows : — 



Francs. 



Interest and Maintenance of hydrants . . . 13,800 

 Cost and repair of hose, &G. ..... 6,200 



Wages of 120 men at half a day for six months . . 35,000 



Total 55,000 



The surface watered being, in round numbers, 600,000 

 square metres, and the average number of days 180, the cost 

 per square metre and per day is 



=000051, 

 180 X 600,000 ' 



showing a great economy as compared with the expense of 

 watering by cart. The hose and branch dispense (making 

 allowance for interruptions caused by traffic and by moving 

 the apparatus) a litre of water per second, or 18,000 litres in 

 five hours ; the quantity is therefore about the same as that 

 dispensed by cart, only it is effected in five instead of seven 

 hours. Previous to the general adoption of the hose and 

 branch, experiments were tried with small handcarts con- 

 taining a quarter of a ton, and drawn by two men, but 

 these were found to cost more than the old carts. 



Another method of keeping roads and pathways in order, 

 namely, by the application of deliquescent salts, is inte- 

 resting from its novelty. The salts used are chloride of 

 magnesium or of calcium. The former salt does not exist 

 in commerce, but large quantities have been obtained from 

 the residue of the manufacture of carbonate of soda, at 

 a cost of 15f. the 100 kilogrammes; it may, however, be 

 produced for less than a third of that rate. The salt is 

 well calcined (in order to make it lose as much of its water 

 as possible), and then coarsely pulverized j it is sprinkled 

 over the road by hand. The effects of this deliquescent 

 salt, as compared with those of water, are not uniform ; in 

 the case of roads with much traffic the salt is twice as dear 

 as water, because of the necessity of constant renewal, but 

 in side paths and roads with little traffic the salt was found 

 far more economical. The use of deliquescent salts has this 



